10 NORTH AMERICAN FEVER TICK AND OTHER SPECIES. 
the fact that these animals are pests to the stockman throughout 
the greater part of the year is of very little importance, while the 
latter cares little about such matters if he can only learn how to rid 
his cattle of them. Yet it is only by learning the life history that 
remedies to prevent them-can be applied intelligently, and the fact 
that the knowledge attained is of practical value adds a double 
interest to their chek a 
In view of the evident importance of the work it is surprising that 
so little has been done in this country. In 1892, about a year pre- 
vious to the issuance of Smith and Kilborne’s epoch-making bulletin 
denvonstrating the tick transmission of fever, Dr. Cooper Curtice 
published the first data regarding the life history of the cattle tick 
as Bulletin 24 of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. It 
-was accompanied by excellent illustrations. The value of this work 
will be understood from the fact that it was of a pioneer character, 
and that all subsequent work has depended upon it. Nevertheless, 
it was of a preliminary nature and merely outlined matters that 
must eventually receive the most careful investigations. 
Prof. H. A. Morgan, principally in bulletins 51 and 56 of the Louis- 
iana Experiment Station, has added greatly to our knowledge of the 
cattle tick as well as other species. His work ‘has such practical 
bearings that it has been the chief indication of the value of life- 
history studies in pointing out successful methods of eradication. 
Recently Messrs. Wilmon Newell and M. S. Dougherty, of the Louis- 
lana crop-pest commission, have published a valuable contribution 
which still further shows how every fact relating to the tick can be 
utilized in combating it. 
The above are the principal publications by American workers. 
There are many others which also contribute important facts. Among 
these are Connaway’s, Schroeder and Cotton’s, Ransom’s, and others. 
In other countries excellent work has been done on related forms. In 
South Africa Prof. C. P. Lounsbury has made scholarly studies of 
Margaropus (Boophilus) decoloratus and many other species. In 
Argentina, Dr. F. Lahille has recently published the results of some of 
the most exhaustive work on ticks that has been done. These works, 
with others, are listed in the bibliography at the end of this bulletin. 
Notwithstanding the studies that have been conducted in this 
country, it must be stated that our knowledge of the tick is far short 
of what it should be. There is a lack of knowledge of local variations, 
due to climatic influences, as well as such matters as dissemination. 
To supply this deficiency, the Bureau of Entomology, in cooperation 
with the officers of several experiment stations, has undertaken a 
4Tex. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 24, p. 238. 
